Strapless bathing suit



April 6, 1954 5. w. MOSEN ET AL STRAPLESS BATHING SUIT Filed Dec. 31, 1948 INVENTOR Bow:

MMosem A dolpk Maser A'ITORNE Y Patented Apr. 6, 1954 STRAPLESS BATHIN G SUIT Boris W. Mosen and Adolph Mosen, New York, N. Y.

Application December 31, 1948, Serial No. 68,584

7 Claims. I

The present invention relates to a strapless bathing suit and it particularly relates to a strapess bathing suit formed of elasticized fabric.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a novel strapless bathing suit construction which will be of better appearance, more readily displayed on the sales counter and which will give added safety to the wearer with assurance that the suit will not slip or fall off of the upper part of the body.

Another object is to provide a more artistic, simpler, strapless bathing suit construction which will eliminate boning and wires and which is particularly adapted to elasticized fabrics.

Another object is to provide an artistic, novel, strapless bathing suit construction which will fit most comfortably upon the upper part of the body and across the back and which will not unduly ruffle or stretch along the upper edges and which will give better fit and more artistic lines.

Still another object is to provide a novel strapless bathing suit which construction will be more comfortable, which will not chafe and not irritate the skin of the wearer adjacent the upper edges and which will have a better counter and wearing appearance and which will be devoid of the accordion pleat effect.

A principal feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the interior of the upper margin of the garment is provided with a band of elastic material extending substantially around the entire body, which is tacked at spaced points to the one-way stretch fabric making up the body of the garment and which is further tacked at spaced intervals to the upper edge of the garment.

It has been found most satisfactory, according to one embodiment of the present invention, to provide a strapless bathin suit construction of forward and rear panels of one-way stretch, elasticized fabric-having preferably lateral stretch and then to have an overlying forwardly projecting and at the top thereof of one-way stretch fabric, the stretch of which is at an angle of 90 to the direction of stretch of the main body of the garment.

Desirably, the cuff and the body are connected at the front and back of the garment by means of a faggoting seam.

In the desired construction the band of elastic descends to a sharp V between the breast cover portion and then ascends upwardly around the top; of the breast portions. There it is tacked once above the top of the breast covering portions and once to the side of the breast covering portions. It is also tacked once more below the arm portions and then at the ends at the middle of the back.

Between tackings, the elastic band is preferably shorter than the contour of the garment. Each section of the elastic band will stretch independently of the other section between spaced tackings, with the result that it will cling closely to the body contour.

In the preferred form, the fabric band consists of fabric-covered elastic threads made of rubber and the tackin desirably is limited to the upper portion of the band, leaving the lower part of the band untacked.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote correspondin parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of the garment upon the body of the wearer.

Fig. 2 is a rear perspective view similar to Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an inside rear elevational view showin the position of the elastic band in the upper part of the garment removed from the body, with the back portion of the garment turned aside.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 upon an enlarged scale as compared to Figs. 1 to 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary inside elevational view of the portion of the garment at the top of the breast covering portion, showing an alternative form of attachment of elastic tape to the garment.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4, the garment has'a front section A, the rear or back section B, breast coverin portions 0, a forwardly extending cufl D and the elastic band E.

The back B is held together by the slide fas-j tener or zipper F. The fabric utilized to form the front and back A preferably is a one-way elasticized fabric having lateral stretch as indi-,

cated at Iii and l l.

The rear panels l2 and the slide fastener F extends from point B are joined along the seam I3 up to the top edge at it, where there is provided a snap fastener 65 and IS. The slider I! is moved up to the top M of the slide fastener F to close the garment.

The front panel A is preferably in one piece and has the gathered connections Hi to the rear panels. This gathering i8 terminates at point l9 just adjacent the thigh covering portions 26 and at 2-! just below the breast covering portions 22. The breast covering portions are preferably formed by the gathering at 23 and by suitable pleating at 24 of the front of the garment.

At the top of the garment there is a faggoting seam 25. By the seam 25 the cuff D is'attached which has a vertical stretch as indicated by the double arrow 26. The cuff extends forwardly and hangs down over the faggoting seam 25 and the upper part of the breast covering portions 22, as indicated at 21.

The present invention 'is particularly directed to .the elastic band .12 which is centrally tacked orstitchediin position at 28 and descends to a peak.29ibetween the breast covering portions '22. The elastic band E then extends outwardly over both breast covering portions 22, as indicated at 3D, 'to the tacking 31 directly above the breast covering portions 22.

"Then it extends downwardly at 34 to the tacking '35 directly under the armpits at the side of the garment. Finally, it extends downwardly at 36 .to the end -3'1, where it is tacked into the seam '38.

Fig. 4 shows the vertical tacking 3i, which is also-shown in smaller scale in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 5, there is shown analternative form of tacking 50, which isparallel to the horizontal courses 5| of the elastic cords in the tape E and is therefore preferred where the verticaltacking 3|, transverse of the elastic cords 5 l mightcut or rupture them.

'It will be noted that the horizontal tacking 5d and the vertical tacking Si, .33 and 35 are positionedin the top third or quarter of the elastic band which'hangs downwardly freely over the rest .of its width. This tackingtl, 33, '35 and 5-8 is attached directly below the faggoting seam 25.

The top portion of the elastic band B acts not as a whole, but sectionally to cling to the body. Each section of the elastic band, namely sections 30, 32, 34 and 36,'will stretch and contract independently of the-other. A balanced action will be obtained by the reason of the fact that the lower portion of the elastic band E is not tacked. By reason of these independent upper sections of the elastic band E, the suit will accommodate itself to maximum variations in body contours and will automatically adjust itself to various bust formations, under-"arm contours and back formations, whether flat'or bulged in the same ize.

Even though the wearer indulge in active exercise, such as diving, swimming and calisthenics, the uppersections of the band will retain their positions above and will grip the body contours and will'not tend toslip orpermit the body contour to slip above it.

The garment may be madeof non-elasticized fabricwithelastieband E in position.

The cuffDmay be omitted, if desired.

Since the cuff D when utilized, however, on the garment as shown'in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 has vertical stretch, as indicated by the double arrow 26, while .the fabic forming the front and back A has lateral stretch, .as indicated at H) and H, the cuff has excess length as compared to the portionofptheggarment C to which it is attached-so that the excess length forming the ruffled construction as shown at Figs. 1 and 3 will be taken up and limit the amount of stretch which is available in the elastic band E, preventing the garment from slipping off the breast portion of the wearer in case of an unexpected or outside lateral jerk or pull. Therefore, the cuff D when attached to the garment limits the amount of stretch or acts as a stop for the elastic band E while the fabric in the body structure A will stretch with the elastic E.

By the use of this construction, it is possible for the applicant to provide a close-fitting, comfortable, safe garment which will not slip off the body'of the wearer and which will give maximum -comfort and a most desirable dressy appearance without any accordion pleating.

While there has been herein described a preferred form of the invention, it should be understood that the same may be altered in details and in relative arrangement of parts withinthe scope ofthe appended claims.

Having particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what we claim is:

'1. In a strapless shoulderless bathing garment, body covering portions including breast covering portions, the upper front edge of the garment being convexly curved on each side of the center thereof and the upper side edges'extending downwardly on each side to the center of the back of the garment and providing upper breast covering portions, underarm portions, and a low-cut back portion, there being positioned and tacked at spaced points below said upper edge a flat elastic band having a substantially lesser length between tackings than the length of the upper edge between said tackings, said upper edge and margin forming the top of the front of the garment and taking a body position substantially above the top of the breasts of the wearer and said upper marginand edge extending downwardly from the top sides of the breasts under the arms to a relatively low position at the middle of the small of the back.

2. In the bathing suit of claim 1, said tackin being located between the breast covering portions, at the top of the breast covering portions, at the outside edge of the breast covering portions and at the side edges of the garment.

3. In the bathing suit of claim 1, the difference in length of the flat elastic band and said upper edge providing a cup which forms a forwardly projecting portion.

4. In a strapless shoulderless bathing garment, a body-covering portion including breast covering portions, underarm portions and a low cut back portion having front and back panels seamed vertically together along vertical side seams, said panelshavinjg lateral horizontal stretch and in front extending to an upper marginal edge above the breast coveringportions and in the rear the upper marginal edge dipping centrally downwardly to the low-cut portion, and a .flat elastic band tacked at spaced intervals to the inside face of said upper marginal edge. v

5. The bathing garment of claim a in which the upper marginal edge is provided with a forwardly extending cuff having vertical stretch and serving to limit thestretch of said elastic band.

6. The bathing garment of claim 4 in which the tacking is located. at the center of the upper marginal edgeof the front of the garment, at the top of the breast covering portions and at the sides of the breast covering portions.

'7. The bathing garment of claim 4 in which Number the tacking extends parallelly of the length of- 1,953,797 the flat elastic band. 1 2,104,943 2,194,181 References Cited in the me 01' this patent 5 2 4 1,505 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,484,274 Number Name Date 1,351,982 Zwicke Sept. 7, 1920 Number 1,568,917 Peterson Jan. 5, 1926 10 3 030 Dun July 7, 1931 Name Date Daniel Apr. 3, 1934 D'Achon Jan. 11, 1938 Jasper Mar. 19, 1940 Reid Nov. 25, 1947 Gluckin Sept. 27, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Feb. 24, 1930 

